The President is right about one thing: WE are at war. We. That is, all of us. And, even if Mr. Bush is able to "grieve for every death" without so much as shedding a tear, even if this swashbuckling he-man of a man can somehow turn a blind eye and a deaf ear to the Cindy Sheehan's of the world, I cannot. Because it's not just about Cindy Sheehan. It's about us.
It's about our need to grieve, to mourn the deaths of our fellow citizens""about our desire and our willingness to show the mothers, the brothers, sisters, wives, daughters and sons that our hearts are breaking, too. And, unlike the President, we are not afraid to look them in the eye. We are not afraid of looking "weak"""we will stand by them, weeping with them, sharing their grief, not just "thinking" about it. And if even that doesn't move the President to tears, well then we know. The bastard's been lying all along, not only about the big things""WMD, noble and not-so-noble causes, blood and oil, failed intelligence""but also about the little things, like his itsy-bitsy, teeny-weeny unbroken heart.
George W. Bush may not give a damn about Casey Sheehan or his mother, but we do. And we do care enough to cry for them""collectively, with or without the President.
Lilian Friedberg friedberg@chidjembe.com is a writer, translator, editor and performing artist from Chicago, IL. She recently completed her PhD in Germanic Studies at the University of Illinois. Her work has appeared in such venues as American Indian Quarterly, African Studies Quarterly, German Quarterly, New German Critique, Denver Quarterly, Chicago Review, Transition and various other venues. She recently co-edited, with Sander Gilman, a volume of selected essays by German Jewish journalist Henryk Broder, (A Jew in the New Germany, Univ. of Illinois Press). Friedberg is artistic director of the Chicago Djembe Project, an arts organization dedicated to respect and cooperation across cultures and genders through the African djembe drum tradition. http://www.chidjembe.com
It's about our need to grieve, to mourn the deaths of our fellow citizens""about our desire and our willingness to show the mothers, the brothers, sisters, wives, daughters and sons that our hearts are breaking, too. And, unlike the President, we are not afraid to look them in the eye. We are not afraid of looking "weak"""we will stand by them, weeping with them, sharing their grief, not just "thinking" about it. And if even that doesn't move the President to tears, well then we know. The bastard's been lying all along, not only about the big things""WMD, noble and not-so-noble causes, blood and oil, failed intelligence""but also about the little things, like his itsy-bitsy, teeny-weeny unbroken heart.
George W. Bush may not give a damn about Casey Sheehan or his mother, but we do. And we do care enough to cry for them""collectively, with or without the President.
Lilian Friedberg friedberg@chidjembe.com is a writer, translator, editor and performing artist from Chicago, IL. She recently completed her PhD in Germanic Studies at the University of Illinois. Her work has appeared in such venues as American Indian Quarterly, African Studies Quarterly, German Quarterly, New German Critique, Denver Quarterly, Chicago Review, Transition and various other venues. She recently co-edited, with Sander Gilman, a volume of selected essays by German Jewish journalist Henryk Broder, (A Jew in the New Germany, Univ. of Illinois Press). Friedberg is artistic director of the Chicago Djembe Project, an arts organization dedicated to respect and cooperation across cultures and genders through the African djembe drum tradition. http://www.chidjembe.com
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